Secondary or storage battery.



6. L. j& G. J. A. FULLER. SECONDARY 0R STORAGE BATTERY.

APPLIoATloN FILED vSEPT. 4, 191s.

133922,253. Patented Apr. 7, '19,14

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

ooooooooo noou f 'Leona/rdm; GeorzgeJfLF p' ,10 INVENTOR ATTORNEY G., L'. & (LJ. A. FULLER. SECONDARY 0R STORAGE BATTERY.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 4L 1913. 1,092,253, manned Apri-7,1914

s ausw-summa'.

. 75 Leozzadzd/ Fziaer wrrNEssl-:s 660696412117 adler 'NVENTORS ATTORNEY GEORGE FULLER, LEONARD FULLER, AND GEORGE JOHN ANDREW runnnia, jor 4A` Bow, LoNDoN, ENGLAND.

SECONDARY on STORAGE BATTERY.

Specification of Letters yatent.

Patented Apr. e, 1era.

Application tiled September 4, 1913. Serial No. 788,129.

rTo all @chrom it may concern Be it known that We, Gnonn FULLER,

LEONARD FULLER, and-Geenen J. A. FULLER,

subjects of the King of Great Britain, residing at-'-Bow, London, England, have invented a new and useful Secondaryor Storage- Battery,-'ot which the following 1s -a specification.

This invention has reference to improvements in secondary or storage batteries, and is designed to provide` a storage battery or lead accumulator which shall be free from certain inherent weaknesses of the plate type of lead aco'uniulators.

i' r1`hat there are certain serious defects in v the plate type of accumulator has long been recognized. The most efficient plate accumulator is that which contains the least amount of metalin its structure, and the greatest' amount 'of active material, but on attempt ing to increase the eliiciency at the expense of structure there inevltablyresults a buckling of the plates when the accumulator is subjected to the least overstrain. Unless the greatest care is exercised the plates are distorted and the active material is dislodged and usually there is found a pile of mud in the bottom of all plate cells after any4 considerable service. Unless the greatest care is exercised and effective means are employed to prevent a plate battery from disgcha-rging below its safe discharge electroymotive. A.force,- sulfating invariably follows, and ifa plate battery is ever neglected when standing in the discharge condition, there is complete sulfating. of the plates, and conisequent rapid deterioration of the battery. :t Ao'ain. continual char 'mfr and discharoino' 2D C 2:! t!

tends to disintegrate the active material in the plate type of accumulator, and after period ofhard work the loss of efficiency from thisjfcaujse alone is a `serious consideration..

The present invention while employing substantially the same materials as the plate type of l accumulator differs therefrom in having the electrodes in the-'form of blocks of taper form in cross section, so that each block is a geometrical solidl of such conformation that two or more may be assembled, with insulation between their adjacent faces,

Vinto llarger 'substantially regular geometric solids.- This is best 'brought about by having the blocks in the form of triangular solids or sectors of cylinders, wherebytt or more blocks may be assembled into groups i thin edges. this permittinfr the employment of a .metallic core surrounded by a relatively thick mass of active material and permits the formation of a cell in a manner wholly resistant to forces which usually aredestructive to the ordinary plate type of acl cumulator electrode or element.

The invention will be best understood from a consideration of the following detail de scription, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming a part `of this specification, with the further understanding that while the drawings show a practical form ofthe invention, the latter is not confined to any strict conformity with the showing of the drawings, but may be4 changed and modified so long as such changes and modifications mark n o material departure from the salient features of the invention.

In the drawings :-Figure 1 is a perspective View of an accumulator cell of cylindrical type embodying the present invention. Fig. 2 is across section of the assembled electrodes shown/in Fig. 1, but drawn Ona larger scale. Fig. 3 is a perspective View of the metallic core of. a segmental block electrode. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a complete electrode of the segmental type with the insulating envelop omitted. x Fig. 5 is a plan'view of assembled accumulator electrodes Where each electrode is of the triangular type.l Fig. 6 is a similar view showing the arrangement Where a greater number of triangular electrodes are employed. Fig. 7 is a plan View of a still larger group of triangular electrodes. Fig. 8is a plan View of a pair of substantially semicylindrical electrodes.

In constructing accumulators in accord` ance Withthe present invention there is provided a skeleton core 1 of lead, and usually of antimonial lead, and this core is made eitherof a number of longitudinal members 2 with spaced :connecting cross pieces 3,

which may be all cast together, or it may be forming in shapepto the cross sectional shape of the linished electrode,,andthe'headfl has a terminal 6 projecting therefrom. As will'be understood, the-entirecore including the heads and terminal maybe cast in one piece from lead, especially',antimonial lead, since suc-h typey of lead isnot lmaterially ated by the charging and discharging of 'thecelL In various forms of electrodes which may be produced under the present invention,` the 10 core 1 may be quite similar to that shown in Fig.l 3, while the heads 4 and 5 will conform tgthe cross sectional shape o-f the complete electrode. In the showing of Figs. 1 to 4 the electrodes, designated generally by the Each electrode is formed by molding or.

otherwise producing about the core 1 betweenthe heads 4 and 5 a mass 8 of active material, such as usually employed in lead accumulators, so that there is produced an electrode which may be termed a block electrode, as distinguished from a plate electrodejwhere the thickness is usually but a small fraction ofthe width of the plate, while in the block elect-rode the greatest thickness may be more than half the width of the block, and, moreover, the block tapers from its point of greatest thickness toward one face. Each block between the heads 4 and 5 isinclosed by a layer 9 of suitable material of an insulating-character and resistant .to the acid electrolyte employed. Such a layer may be composed of the material known as woven glass or glass wool which possesses both insulating and acidproof qualities, and, moreover, is suii- 'ciently porous to permit free access of the electrolyte to the surface of the block elecl4afitlode. The layer 9 has comparatively little in- `herent strength, and so it is inclosed by an envelop 10 of a material possessing the requisite strength and alsohaving insulating qualities. Such material is found in celluloid, but celluloid is quitev impervious to the electrolyte so the Celluloid layer 10 has many perforations 11 formed in it, whereforethe electrolyte will pass freely through the celluloid layer and from. thence it lhas free access through the layer 9 to the active material of the electrode. When the electrodes are assembled such perforated envelops' 10 'if brought into contact would be liable to cover up the perf,

forations 11 because of thediliculty of mak?.

there is introduced between the adjacent surfaces Aof Jthe envelops separators 12. which:

may bealso of insulating material, ,and for this purpose corrugated celluloids'may be'.

employed, and these cellulid'f'spaiatorsare reference numeral 7, are .shown as sectors of a cylinder where each sector includes` ing them match, and in order to preventthis- Lossless provided with many perforations 13, Fi-i nally, the assembled electrodes are bound ltightly together with the insulating wrap# pings and separators by bands 14 which maylikewise be formed of colluloid.

It is not necessary that Celluloid be emvployed', yfor there are other materials having like qualities, among which ebonite may be named, so while celluloid may havev certain advantages over other materials 1n the 'matter ofcost and 1n some other features,the

invention is not by any means limited to the ing .and preferably fibrous materials Which may be employed for a like purpose, andamong such materials asbestos may be named.

' It is customary, of course, to inclose theassembled electrodes in a container, one

,form of which is indicated at 15 in Fig. 1,

and such container may be made of glass or any suitable material customarily employed in accumulator' practice. in Fig. 1. includes supports -16 upon which the assembled electrodes are mounted, thus lifting them above the bottom of the con# tainer 15, and these supports are shown pro vided with transversely arranged spacer rods 16 thus positioning the supports with reference to the container 15. The terminals or lugs 6 of like electrodes are connected together by metal bars 17 and each group is provided with the usual terminal. binding post 18.

The simpler the form of the blocks the stronger and more efficient is the completed cell, and by varying the angle of the blocks the exposed surface of the electrodes is proportioned to suit the variousl uses to; which the battery may be put, and in any instance the variation of area is obtained bybuilding' up the cell of comparatively small `unit blocks, whereby there is produced a cell of great mechanical strength and electric ethciency.

The present invention'has certain marked advantages over accumulatore or secondary batteries in which the electrodes are made up of plates, in several particulars. Electrodes'of block form may be fitted together to provide a markedly strong mechanical structure which is; also very compact whether the accumulator as a whole be cir- I cular or of square -or other rectangular form.

.Moreoven the block form of electrodes permits generally the drawing of of current atja yhglmr vrate per square inch. ofsurface ,than :can safely be done with the plate form of electrode becausefof` the larger amount of active. material available in theblock form, of electrode. Again, the active :materialiisl `-pressed about a central coreorgrid of lead The cell shown Loews so deeply buried in the inassthatit cannot. be freely acted upon by theelectrolyte and consequently does not undergo any appreciable change, which,I accounts for the absence of any tendency to grow.

Short circuiting, whether accidental or otherwise, is not harmful, since tlierate of discharge on short circuit is limited in accordance with the internal resistanceot the cell determined by the number and thickness of the blocks, and the great mechanical strength of the cell permits prolonged short circuits without disintegration and itis even possible to'y reverse ,the battery without injury. The great amount of active material present maires it possible to leave the cell standing yfor from nine to twelve months without materialv loss ofk the charge or danger of'sulfate forming. For all practical purposes an accumulator is discharged when the voltage drops, below 1.8 but with the present invention there'is so large a reserve of latent energy still in the electrodes that even should Ytheifdischarge be continued asl low as 1.5 volts this latent energy, on the cessation of .the discharge, immediately sends the voltage up to normal where it remains almost indefinitely because of the lack of local action, and this prevents the` formation of sulfate. ln fact, it is necessary t0 draw ofi the residual' current at an almost impracticable rate to completely discharge the cell. Y

The complete wrapping of eacli electrode in a porous or pervioiis envelop of insulating material inert to the electrolyte prevents the active material both from swelling and from falling to the bottom of the cell, this-.latter contingency being further prevented by the supporting heads.

AExperience has shown that the electrodes of the. present invention are olighter weight per y volume, as well vas higher capacitvtonthe pound of weight than yare. the ordinary plate type of electrodes because oi the greater amount of active material as compared with metallic lead.` the lead oxid being lighter than metallic lead. In act-ual practice an electrode of the present invention is nearly one-third lighter than a plate elect-rode ofthe sainecapacity. The various advantages of the present invention as enumerated have been proven out iii actual practice and are due in part to the block form of the electrode, whereby the central metallic support is embeddedin active material to such a depth in all directions that the depth of active material is greater than the penetrating eii'ect ot a discharge reducing the voltage to the discharge minimum. In the practicalform each electrode is either actually triangular, `as in Figs. 5, v6 and 7 or effectively so, as in Figs. 1 to 4 and Fig. 8, and in either case the; appreach tojvard the triangular form facilitates the assemblage of the electrodes into a geometric whole about a longitudinal cen ter line, with a minimum cross sectional area, f*

but still presentin a large active surface.

Because of the e ectively triangular form of the-electrode the term trianguloid is employed in the claims to define either the tri,-

angular form of F igs. 5 to 7 or the sectoral forms of Figs. 1 to 4 and Fig. 8. Also, when n the electrodes are vassembled. the adjacent faces of neighboring electrodes are out of parallelisinwith the remainingfaces of such electrodes. -Tlie word trianguloid is also used as inclusive of a cross sectional'sliape of anrelectrode where the electrode tapers from an intermediate thick portion toward opposite edges, while the grid or support of metal .is located at acentra-lfpoint about oiicident with Vthe midpointof the trianguvThis application is a continuation iii most part and in the broader aspects of the in' vention of our application No. 7 31,484, filed November 15, 1912, for method in the con-j struction of lead accumulator electrodes.

What is claimed is 1'. A storage batteryelectrode of block form withv v`a-cent ral metallic support embedded. in active` material to a depth in all directions greater than the penetrating effect of a discharge reducing the voltage to the discharge minimum, i

Q. A storage battery electrode offblocl:

,outstandingv therefrom vto substantially the same extent as the heads;y

5 6.A storage battery electrodeofA block :form compris] dutst'aiiding en 1 Ya central core or gridwith s or flieads and ifrmed' of inert. antlfvanl'eiiibedding masslof lact-ive inagrid/wand, ,lodged between the-heads andin cross' sectional extent substantially coexteni i v,12o -terialcompletely surrounding the core ,or

the heads, and an insulating wrapping enveloping the active material and pervious to' vthe electrolyte employed. A. f

.8. A storage battery comprisinga pluralityof electrodes of block form each i-representing a geometric` section of a geometric solid and all the sections having the same relation to the longitudinal center line of the v solid, each electrode beinginclosed in an in-v la. ityof electrodeseach consisting of a central -sulating wrapping and insulated from its neighbor and the assembled electrodes beingtie together against displacement one relative to the other and independently of a container.

9. A storage battery comprising a plural- .V core and a surrounding mass of active-inaterial completely embedding the core, and the latter being provided at its lower end with a laterally extended head coextensivey with and corresponding to the cross sectional "area of the electrode, each'electrode .being i provided 'with a Wrapping oiinsulating niafterial' pervious tothe electrolyte employed,

y and each electrode corresponding in: shape to the others and in the form of a block conituting a regular section of. a geometric solid defined by .the assembled electrodes,

v"and vsaid .electrodes being provided with ative displacement.

binding means for holding themagainst rel l0. A storage, battery comprising a --I' rality ofblcck-like electrodesl each inclosed .in an insulating porous Wrapping. and saidv wrapped electrodesy being assembled together in the form ofl a 4geometric solid with surrounding .bands holding the assembled electrodes against relative displacement independently'- of a container.

11. A storage battery comprising afplurality of block-likeelectrodes assembled to- -gether in the form of va geometricsolid with surrounding securing means holdin the as-` sembled electrodes against relative splacement, each electrode comprising a metallic core Wit-li laterally expanded terminal'heads corresponding in shape and area to the cross sectional shape ofthe electrode, and a, mass to hold the active material against shedding.'v '555 12. A 'storage battery comprising -a plurality ofblock-like electrodes assembled to` gether in the form'of.. a geometricsolid witbsurrounding securing means hqldmg tlie as- 'sembied elem-tats aga-sistemista@ dispiace.

ment, each' electrode comprising a metallic 60 core with laterally expanded terminal heads corresponding in shape and area to the cross sectional shape oftheelectrode, and a mass of active material completely embedding the core and4 extending to the margins of the 65 lieads'and each electrode being provided with an envelop of an insulating material y pervious to the electrolyte and of a strength to -hold the active material against shedding,

and each electrode being shaped to present an extended face toward the like face of the neighboring electrode with such adjacent faces out of parallelism'with the remainingw faces of the respective adjacent electrodes.

13. A storage battery comprising a plurality of electrodes each consisting of a metallic core having laterally expanded terminal heads and a mass of active material surrounding and embedding the core and eX- tending to the margins of the heads, the electrode being of trianguloid form in cross section, and an envelop or Wrapping for each electrode of relatively stiff insulating material pervious tothe electrolytel employed and resistantl to disintegration'of the act-ive ma- 85 ter-i211, and exterior bands surrounding the assembled electrodes and constructed to hold .then 4against relative movement and in positiontffdeline a geometric solid. e 14. Af storage battery comprsing a plurality of electrodes each comprising a central core with a surrounding massof active material --e'mbedding the core to a depth greaterthan the penetrating eiiect of a discharge reducing the voltage of the battery to 95 fthe discharge minimum, each electrode being s provided With an envelop or Wrapping pervious to the electrolyte employed and of a relatively stift' material resistant to laking oi or shedding of the active material, and

Veach electrode being in the form of a block defining a section of a geometric solid formed by the assembled electrodes, and

means for holding the assembled electrodes in the-form stated and against relative displacement.

In testimony that We claim' the foregoing as our own ive have hereto axed' our signatures in the presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE FULLER.'

LEONARD ,.iuLLEa. .Groer JoHN ANDREW rULLE1i.

Witnesses:

FRANK BLAKEY, W; E. Roenes. l 

